The End of an Era? Magnus Carlsen Loses to Vincent Keymar in Fide World Cup!

    Magnus Carlsen is one of the greatest players in Chess History. He holds many achievements, such as being the youngest person ever to become a World Chess Champion, having the highest chess rating ever, and many more.

One of these incredible records is 125 consecutive classical games, without losing a single one of them. This is the longest streak in Classical Chess History. Which is why whenever Magnus loses a game, it’s crazy news!

Recently, during the Fide World Cup, which is one of the most important chess tournaments, Magnus actually lost a game against Vincent Keymar. This game shows just how delicate the professional chess scene is and how a simple pawn can decide whether you win or lose.

THE EARLY GAME

The first part of the game was rather uneventful. Magnus played a Grunfield Defence, one of the most powerful defences for black against D4. The only thing somewhat interesting was by move 20, Magnus has a 45-minute advantage on the clock.

Vincent tried to sacrifice a knight in order to enter a tricky and precise series of trades, to hope for a draw. With most of the pieces traded, Vincent only had 7 minutes and 15 seconds, while Magnus still has over 55 minutes.

THE BLUNDER

The critical mistake that turned the tide happened on move 36. Knight C7 was a huge and critical blunder as it now meant that Magnus will lose a pawn. However, with only 6 minutes left, it was unlikely Vincent will be able to win this game.

However, with a bonus time of 20 minutes, Vincent moved forward and forward. But Magnus has counterplay. With the wild B pawn, being Magnus's last hope, he pushes it! However, just in time (with a great move as well), Vincent comes back, threatening a fork if B2 happens.

With the B pawn being dead weight, the four on two of Vincent Keymar's pawns kept marching, moving forward. Even with a knight, a four-on-two pawn advantage will always be a win at this level.

THE LESSON

This game is proof that even an advantage as small as one pawn can be a game-changer, if you know how to use it right. This one pawn was connected, creating a four-pawn chain, which is a serious threat, if you know how to use it right.

Other ways pawns can be dangerous would be like a single isolated pawn far away, creating a distraction that is also a serious enough threat. No matter what, the main lesson of this game is to be resourceful, and to identify and create threats, no matter how small!

CONCLUSION

So while it’s unlikely that this one simple game is the end of Mangus’s career, it is evident that the GOAT has been less active than ever, in the professional chess scene. But, what do you guys think? Is this really the end for Magnus Carlsen? Please answer in the comments section below!

It’s been great to have you here and we’d hope to see you again!

FIDE World Cup 2023 | Round 4 | Game 1

The History of Women in Chess

  For Centuries, Chess has been a male-dominated sport. In many of those years, women were excluded from the game of Chess. Many of the Greatest chess players we know, like Magnus Carlsen, Garry Kasparov or Bobby Fischer have been male Chess Players. 

But, in recent years, there has been a major rise in female Chess Players. From the start of the Women's World Chess Championships, to the first woman gaining the GM Title, and to the Queen’s Gambit show not too long ago, there has been a massive rise in Women Chess Players lately.

So, let’s dive right into the Past, the Present and the Future of Women Players in Chess!!

EARLY HISTORY

The Modern version of chess came out in the 1400s Or the 15th Century. (The classical version came out in the 500s or the 6th Century). And for 400 years since the creation of Modern Chess, Women were banned from playing the game.

But, in the 1800s, there was a rise all over the world of Women Chess players! Many female Chess Clubs began to emerge, challenging the ridiculous notion that Women can not play chess, and allowing many women to learn chess, for the first time!

THE 1900s

The 1900s was, by many, the biggest boom for female Chess Players! Firstly, in 1927, the first Women's World Chess Championship was held, with Vera Menchik becoming the World’s First Women World Chess Champion!

Secondly, in 1991, Susan Polgar became the first woman EVER to become a Grandmaster, by acquiring a full set of standard norms! This was revolutionary because only 200 years ago did women start to play chess, and now, we have the first woman ever to become a Grandmaster!

Unfortunately, at this point in time, there were still many issues. Many rising female chess players were bullied and harassed by their male counterparts. Many of them were even receiving death threats, making chess entering chess for women very difficult.

CURRENTLY + THE FUTURE

In 2020, something incredible happened. Netflix released a brand new show, called The Queen’s Gambit. The show went viral, not only sparking a new wave of chess players but was also inspiring many women to enter the World of chess!

As of writing this in 2023, 3% of all professional chess players are women. Even though this number is ridiculously low, it is still much higher than what it was previously. Better yet, 15% of all chess players in 2023 are female!

In the future, as more and more women chess players enter the professional scene and the overall skill level rise due to competition, these amazing chess players will gain the recognition they deserve. So, which female chess player throughout history was your favourite?

Please drop your answer in the comments and I hope to see you again!

PogChamps 5: xQc, Tyler1, Sapnap, QTCinderella, CDawgVA, Wirtual Play fo...

Simple & Powerful Opening for Black Against 1.d4 [Beat the London System]

FIDE World Cup 2023 | Round 3 | Tie-Breaks

The Most BRILLIANT and UNDERRATED Chess Games (Fide World Cup)

   

The Fide World Cup is one of the most prestigious Chess Tournaments in the World! The winner of this tournament will go on to play in the Chess Candidates, the winner of which will Challenge the World Champion! 

Whilst it gathers some of the best in the World, like Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru, and many other big names, there are dozens of brilliant and underrated players who need to be in the spotlight. So let’s dive right in!

Game One

Having a grand total of 3 Brilliant moves and 6 Great moves, between GM Adham Fawzey from Egypt and GM Luis Paulo Supi from Brazil, this game is mesmerising. With the first Brilliant move happening at move 25, it involves sacrificing a knight that traps the Queen! 

Notice how the Eval bar is 0. These players are so Brilliant that a Brilliant move doesn’t even push the eval up.

Even though infiltration is important for your pieces, it’s also important for your pieces not to be overextended. Many of us make this mistake by capturing the poisoned pawn on B2 or B7, which leads to our Queen being overextended and them gaining a ton of development.

This second Brilliant move is a reminder to all of us that sometimes, sacrificing a piece to invest in a passed pawn is sometimes a good idea. Later on, the opponent had to offer the knight, in order to not lose the game, to this powerful pawn.

Game Two

In the second game between GM Javokhir Sindarov from Uzbekistan and GM Markus Ragger from Austria, there were a total of 7 Great Moves and 1 Brilliant Sacrifice! This game is Brilliant since it shows us how GMs play a position, down an exchange, and Win!

In this position, what may look like a stupid blunder of a rook to you is actually a Brilliant Sacrifice! That is because after he takes the rook, with a discovered attack to the Queen, the King is now bombarded with several pieces at once. 

He must play super accurately, in order to avoid being mated. But, even if he plays all the best moves (which happened), he will still lose 3 pawns, which is critical because the Queens have to be traded, in order to not be checkmated.

The 3 pawn advantage overwhelmed GM Markus (Playing Black) in the end. This proves that, when you’re down material, either through sacrifice or blunder, you must try to locate areas of counterplay, where you can win back material, or create a huge threat like White did.

Conclusion

Ultimately, I believe that more people need to know these players. Chess news in many places only covers popular players, which means that these brilliant, deserving GMs are left out. So, to honour these players, I would like to ask, which one of the games do you prefer?

FIDE World Cup 2023 | Round 3 | Game 2

FIDE World Cup 2023 | Round 3 | Game 1

FIDE World Cup 2023 | Round 2 | Tie-Breaks